Is this the best ever response to a Facebook rant Bodyform 'boss' enlightens confused boyfriend about periods in witty spoof video Richard Neill wrote hilarious Facebook post bemoaning period advertsHis message has received 86,743 'likes' and 3,735 commentsBodyform replied with spoof YouTube video message that has gone viral

|

UPDATED:

12:59 GMT, 17 October 2012

We should, perhaps, forgive the poor naive men who think women spend their 'time of the month' horse-riding along beaches, rollerblading and skydiving, and that period blood is blue.

For there are, it seems, a few of them out there.

One of these is Richard Neill, a disillusioned boyfriend who light-heartedly bemoaned being mis-sold the truth about menstruation on Bodyform's Facebook page, and who has received feedback from the company in the form of a hilarious spoof YouTube video which has gone viral.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

An actress playing Bodyform CEO Caroline Williams explains 'the truth' about periods to Richard Neill on the company's spoof YouTube video, also posted on Facebook

He said that as a boy he watched jolly, carefree women cavorting along the beach and hurling themselves out of planes, having 'blue water' periods that gave them fun-sounding 'wings', all to the backdrop of that age-old aural ear-worm: the 'Woah Bodyform, Bodyformed for you!' song.

He went on to explain how acquiring a girlfriend later in life had exposed the horrible truth about periods, and how they actually transformed his 'loving, gentle, normal skin coloured lady to the little girl from the exorcist with added venom and extra 360 degree head spin'.

His witty tale of woe prompted much amusement on the social networking site, and his message has, to date, received 86,743 'likes' and 3,735 comments.

RICHARD NEILL'S ORIGINAL FACEBOOK POST

Posted on Bodyform's Facebook page on 8 October:

'Hi, as a man I must ask why you have lied to us for all these years.

'As a child I watched your advertisements with interest as to how at this wonderful time of the month that the female gets to enjoy so many things, I felt a little jealous.

'I mean bike riding, rollercoasters, dancing, parachuting, why couldn't I get to enjoy this time of joy and 'blue water' and wings!! Dam my penis!!

'Then I got a girlfriend, was so happy and couldn't wait for this joyous adventurous time of the month to happen …..you lied !!

'There was no joy, no extreme sports, no blue water spilling over wings and no rocking soundtrack oh no no no.

'Instead I had to fight against every male urge I had to resist screaming wooaaahhhhh bodddyyyyyyfooorrrmmm bodyformed for youuuuuuu as my lady changed from the loving, gentle, normal skin coloured lady to the little girl from the exorcist with added venom and extra 360 degree head spin.

Caroline Williams explains that the depictions of women rollerblading and having pillow fights during their periods are in fact metaphors

In response Bodyform spotted a golden PR opportunity and yesterday released a hilarious YouTube video retort, conceived by their advertising agency Carat.

'Bodyform Responds: The Truth' is a two minute clip in which company 'boss' Caroline Williams (actually played by an actress) sits down to explain the truth about periods to Richard.

Posted on their Facebook page, the video – which went viral overnight – shows Bodyform's 'CEO' sitting at her desk with a jug of blue water.

Addressing Richard she says: 'Hello Richard. We read your Facebook post with interest, but also a sense of foreboding – and I think it's time we came clean. We lied to you, Richard. And I want to say sorry.'

Ms Williams then breaks the news to Richard that Bodyform's prolific use of skydiving and mountain bike-riding in their adverts was actually metaphorical, an illusion used to represent periods because men 'can't handle the truth'.

VIDEO: Watch the 'Bodyform Responds: The Truth' clip

DM.has('rcpv1905492256001','BCVideo');

Richard Neill's original post on Facebook, in which he complained about the lies he was being sold regarding periods by Bodyform's adverts

'There's no such thing as a happy period,' she says, going on to explain how a series of focus groups in the 1980s proved that 'the cramps, the mood-swings, the insatiable hunger, and yes, Richard, the blood coursing from our uteri like a crimson landslide' were all too much for men to really bear.

The spoof video – which has so far notched up 135,036 views on YouTube, 2,213 Facebook 'likes' and 211 comments – ends with the CEO thanking Richard for lifting the veil on their lies and exposing the truth.

SCA, manufacturers of Bodyform, and the brand's advertising agency Carat, co-ordinated the idea for the video response. The concept was scripted and filmed by Rubber Republic.

A still from a Bodyform advert, uploaded onto YouTube, shows a carefree women skydiving from a plane

Yulia Kretova, Brand Controller, at Bodyform said: 'We found Richard's post very amusing and wanted to continue the positive dialogue around periods that this generated.

'Working with the brand for five years breaking down the taboo around Bodyform and periods has always been a challenge and I hope that we have started to address this.

'Carat has created an original and uniquely personalised response, brilliantly PR-ed by Myriad, allowing Bodyform to quickly engage in consumer conversations in a meaningful way.'

Bodyform's skydiving advert, uploaded to YouTube in 2007

Rachael Lake, Communications Planning Manager at Carat said: 'Bodyform's advertisements have a long, distinguished history that we wanted to build on in our film.

'Our carefully crafted response to the Facebook post is deliberately playful and uses video to present a humorous and spirited take on an often slightly taboo subject.'

Katie Hibbard, Social Media Planner at Ogilvy advertising agency, told MailOnline: 'This really shows how brands can best use social media – responding quickly, to a topical subject, by creating content that is innately shareable.

'The sense of humour Bodyform have used shows that the brand truly understands its target audience, I think they've done an amazing job.'

VIDEO: Watch some of the original Bodyform adverts that caused Richard such distress